Down the Rabbit Hole
by kieru-sama
Summary: Can you tell me when I'll get home again? / Well, that's really up to you! Arthur Kirkland is finding his adult life rough. Having just broke things off with his fiance, as well as a publishing company rejecting his book, he needs a reminder that the child inside him is still there. He just needs a little help from some interesting friends to find it.
A/N: this story contains reference to Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, as well as the musical Wonderland (which is amazing, and I recommend you listen to it as you read this! the entire musical is also recorded on youtube, you should check it out!) each chapter will be named after a song from the musical (Worst Day of My Life can only be heard in the live performance as, sadly, it wasn't put on the soundtrack). thank you for reading!

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Severe pain shot through Arthur's head. Though headaches were an ailment he'd grown used to over the past couple of weeks, this one was causing Arthur much more frustration than the stress headaches he received from the fourteen year old prepubescent children he had to deal with as a ninth grade English teacher. As he dug around in the pocket of his thick winter jacket for his apartment key with one hand, the other one rubbed at a sore spot just on the crown of his head. Was a lump already starting to form?

When he finally found his keychain, after managing to pinch his finger on it, he let the door swing open to reveal an apartment covered floor to ceiling in discarded clothes and crushed beer cans.

"I'm home," Arthur called, stumbling his way into the room as his foot caught on a lone, untied sneaker. With a huff, he kicked it back to the pile of shoes that had accumulated beside the door.

"Hey, Artie," A voice answered from somewhere in the depths of the apartment.

"You know, you could have warned me about the service elevator, Colin," Arthur griped as the tall frame of his older brother entered the room. Arthur went back to rubbing his head in the spot where the fixture had connected, where there was already a definite, painful lump. "The damn thing over-shot our floor, and I smashed my head against the light fixture."

"Well, I didn't think you'd be stupid enough to take the service elevator," Colin replied, using a hand to pull his bright red hair from his tired-looking green eyes. "No one else in the building is."

"Well, maybe after a long day of _working-_ " He put a firm emphasis on the word. "-I'd like to not have to climb seven flights of stairs, thank you." Colin used his little finger to scratch at the inside of his ear.

"Ya'know, it's almost like you're trying to insinuate something, little brother."

"I am. Get a real job." Arthur pushed past Colin to make his way down the hallway leading to the bedrooms.

"My fake job is doing me just fine. Bartending is what's putting a roof over your head during these hard times." Arthur paused outside of his bedroom door, and sighed heavily, turning back to face Colin.

"I know, I'm sorry. It's just... I don't know, things have been so stressful lately." Arthur took a hand and ran it through his hair, bunching his hand into a fist to grasp at a few choppy blond locks. "It's just... having to change jobs, and also moving into a new neighbourhood in one day..." He tilted his head back, closing his eyes as a sudden sharp pain spread through his skull once again. "I was late for work because it started snowing, and I forgot the rookie teacher code, and..."

Colin leaned against the wall, watching his brother carefully before he just waved his hand to cut off his tragic tale. "No, look, I get it. Having to break off an engagement is hard, not to mention dealing with snot-nosed preteens at a new teenage torture facility after all this shit had gone down." Colin offered Arthur a rare, kind smile. "It's not a problem to help you out until you can get back on your feet."

Arthur stared for a moment, seeming to be bewildered by his brother's sudden signs of affection. But, he gave Colin a smile in return, albeit a tired-looking one, before he opened up his bedroom door.

Arthur's bedroom was what most people would call chaotic organisation. Boxes with labels were stacked along one of the walls, all obviously hap-haphazardly packed. On the other side, a desk with stacks of papers that needed to be filled out. However, something else caught his eye.

A twin-sized bed had been placed in the center of the back wall, covered in a plain green sheet and comforter, with a green-cased pillow placed at the head.

"Where did this bed come from?" Arthur asked, taking the strap of his satchel off of his shoulder and placing it on the bed.

"Oh, You-Know-Who bought it and brought it over here." Colin replied. Arthur automatically stiffened, feeling his chest tighten. "Said it'd suck for you to spend your first night in your new place in a sleeping bag."

Arthur was quiet, running his hand along the blanket, before he answered.

"Well..." He said quietly, taking a deep breath. "That was very nice of him."

"Aye, he was here all day, dragging it up the stairs-"

"I'd like to be here all day too, Colin!" Arthur snapped, not looking back at Colin. "But one of us has to be the adult."

Colin held up his hands in surrender, backing out of the room to give Arthur some privacy, but something on Arthur's desk caught his eye. "Oh, right, a package came for you today," Colin said, pointing to a thick envelope sitting on top of a stack of papers. "From, uh... Dodo Publishing, that's the place, right?"

Arthur quickly turned toward his desk, rushing over and grabbing the envelope. Sure enough, in intricate letters, the words "Dodo Publishing, Co." were printed in the top corner, a stamp with the image of a dodo bird wearing a top hat and monocle placed beside it.

"Your book out already?" Colin asked, walking up behind Arthur to examine the envelope.

"It can't be," Arthur replied, flipping the enveloped over and undoing the seal. "I just sent them my first draft."

Sticking his hand down into the envelope, Arthur pulled out a flimsy book, roughly-bound in a simple black cover. On the front, a small sticker with typed font read _The Last White Knight_ with _by Arthur Kirkland_ in a smaller size just below it.

"It is my book..." Arthur muttered, running his hand over the cover. Looking it over, he noticed a folded piece of parchment sticking up from the pages. Slipping it out, he sat down at his desk chair and quickly unfolded it. In the same curling letters as the label on the envelope, it read:

" _Dear Mr. Kirkland,_

 _We regret to inform you that your finished draft fails to realise the potential we saw in your proposal. Dark, nightmarish tones seems inappropriate for young readers, particularly its downbeat, pessimistic ending. Please consider revising your story._

 _Warm regards,_

 _Elizabeta_ _Héderváry, Dodo Publishing, Co."_

Arthur stared blankly at the paper, his heart squeezing in his chest as he reread it, hoping there was some kind of mistake.

"So, how'd they like it?" Colin asked, leaning with his hand on Arthur's desk.

"They liked my idea, but I tried to write it when he and I were having our... you know... problems." Arthur sighed, placing the letter down on his desk. "Well... cancel yet another life-long dream."

"You could write another book," Colin said with a shrug.

"I don't have the time, Colin!" Arthur huffed back, leaning back in his chair and running his hand down his face in exasperation. "Or the temperament, it seems..." He added softly, his hands muffling his voice. "I'll just keep teaching English instead of writing. I have to make money somehow so I can get out of here."

"Oh, it's not so bad living with your older bro, is it? You've only been here a few hours." Colin put his hand on his brother's shoulder. "You just gotta relax. Maybe you'll learn to like single life."

Arthur glared back at him through his fingers, his bright green eyes seeming dull as he leaned forward. "I feel like I'm being robbed of my best years."

"Now, now, don't say that." Colin said, making his way towards the door of Arthur's bedroom. "I spent _my_ best years lookin' after you and our other brothers, even though you usually did most of the housework." He paused for a moment, giving Arthur a sympathetic look. "Makes me kinda sad you didn't get a real childhood."

Arthur just shrugged. "I'm used to having to be the responsible one, I guess." He said, absentmindedly picking up the draft of his book and thumbing through it. He looked back to Colin. "Don't you have to be getting to work soon?"

Colin rubbed at the back of his head. "I suppose I do... but, ya'know, I can... stick around if you need me to. A little brotherly bonding?"

Arthur just waved his hand in dismissal, turning back to his desk and pulling out a stack of papers, some assignments he needed to grade.

Hearing the door click shut behind him, Arthur got to work scribbling down corrections on the papers of his students. However, after just a few minutes, his eyes became blurred as the pain from the lump on his head once again sliced through him. With a moan, he leaned back, rubbing at his eyes and feeling around his desk for the bottle of Ibuprofen he kept near him at all times. Pouring own two pills, he flung them back into his mouth, dry-swallowing them.

As he held his left hand over his mouth, something cold pressed against the skin of his face. Lifting his hand up, he caught sight of a glimmering silver band. His engagement band. In all the chaos, he must have forgotten to take it off.

With a huff, he went to pull the stupid thing off, but he hesitated. If he pulled off the ring... would it really be over?

He sat, his heart aching, feeling the burn of tears threatening his already pained eyes. _Like a band-aid..._

In one motion, he yanked the ring from his finger, tossing it to some corner of his desk, taking a few deep breaths to try and steady himself.

Laying his head down on his desk, one of the books in a small pile he had stacked on his desk caught his eye. In letters that had once shimmered silver, but had peeled off over time, were the words _Alice's Adventures in Wonderland._ Laying on it was the letter from the publishing company. Picking up the book and the letter, he let the parchment fall open once again, scoffing.

"'Dark and nightmarish tones seems inappropriate...'" He read off, crumpling the paper and tossing it aside, running his hand over the worn cover of Alice in Wonderland. "Funny... no one ever complained about you."

He let the book fall open to a random page of the classic tale, a paragraph catching his eye.

" _'When I used to read fairytales,' said Alice, 'I fancied this kind of thing never happened. And now, here I am, in the middle of one. There ought to be a book about me, and when I grow up, I'll write one.'"_

Arthur sighed, closing the book with a sharp _snap_ and placing it back down. "Yeah, right," he said, rubbing at his forehead. "'When I grow up...'"

He gazed out the window, watching as the snow swirled around outside, illuminated by a streetlight. The room around him was blurring into a nauseating mess of colours, his headache making him dizzy. With a sigh, he laid his head down in his arms, closing his eyes.

"I just need to lay my head down for five minutes..." he muttered sleepily, sighing heavily as he settled down, counting off dodo birds in his mind.

He wasn't sure exactly how much time had passed. Maybe five minutes, maybe five hours. All he knew was that his headache had died down just a bit, but had certainly not gone away. He repositioned himself, about to nod off again, when the sound of things shifting around him caused his eyes to snap open.

Sitting up quickly and looking around, Arthur's eyes grew wide as he noticed a tall, hulking figure standing on the other side of his bed.

"What the hell?!" Arthur yelled, jumping out of his chair and reaching out for the nearest blunt object, this being his student's textbook. "Who are you, what are you doing in my room?!"

The figured jumped, turning towards him. He was a fair-skinned, his eyes a striking colour of blue. He wore a bright white suit, accented with shades of red and gold, red hearts of different sizes stationed throughout his wardrobe. His wheat-coloured hair was slicked back neatly, but that wasn't what caused Arthur to double-take.

Sticking up from his head, two white, fluffy rabbit ears placed themselves on the man's head.

"What the..."

Before Arthur could do anything else, the man shot out from behind his bed, sprinting for his bedroom door.

Arthur stood, dumbstruck for a moment, before he shook himself out of it, dropping the textbook and racing after the stranger.

"Wait!" He called out, watching as the man darted around the corner towards the apartment's front door. Arthur ran after him, panting as he ran out in the hallway. He paused just outside his door, wheezing as he looked to and fro, hearing the telling _ding!_ of the service elevator down the hall.

Running down the hallway, he saw the elevator doors beginning to shut.

"Hold the elevator!" he called out instinctively, managing to squeeze through the doors just before they closed with a _clank,_ and a voice over the intercom said in a calm voice, "Stand clear of the closing doors, please."

He looked around, his chest heaving after his sprint to catch up with the man, but he was alone inside the elevator.

He was just about to press the Open Door button, when the same voice piped up once again.

"This is an express, and we're glad you dropped in!"

With a lurch, Arthur felt his stomach drop in the same way it did when you went down the big hill on a rollercoaster. He quickly grabbed onto the railing that lined the walls of the elevator, gazing around with wide, scared eyes. He jabbed at the button to make the elevator stop, but the voice once again rang through the carriage.

"Down we go!" it said, it's tone almost gleeful.

"Oh my god, who are you?!" Arthur called back, grasping at the railing for his life.

"Just look out below!" The voice replied, still sounding as if it was on the verge of laughter.

"This thing is going down way too fast!" Arthur muttered, watching as the walls seemed to spin with strange colours and images. Was his aching head playing tricks on him?

"You've gotta relax!" The voice answered.

"Where are we going?" Arthur called, speaking to the air as he tried to locate the source of the voice. He couldn't see a speaker anywhere.

"A special place!" It replied. "With some special people!"

"Well, can you tell me I'll be able to get home again?" Arthur asked, realising the carriage was slowly starting to come to a halt, and straightening himself up.

"Well, that's really up to you!"

With a laugh, the voice took on its original formal tone, and announced, "Underground floor!" as the elevator finally screeched to a stop.

Arthur stood before the elevator doors, he stomach twisting as he thought of the things that could be waiting for him on the other side. However, he didn't have a lot of time to think it over, because before he knew it, with a _ding!,_ the doors were sliding open.


End file.
